Thesis (M.Sc.) - Cairo University - Faculty of Pharmacy - Department of Pharmacognosy

Pimpinella anisum L. and Carum carvi L., family Apiaceae are annual herbs, dispersed all over the world. During crude medicinal plant processing, most of the plant is discarded as waste. Worldwide, millions of tons of waste from the agro-industry are generated and some of it is used as animal feed; however, most of it is still discarded or burned without treatment. Poor management of waste products could be environmentally harmful and may lead to many risks to the public health. The present study investigated the estrogenic effect of anise waste hydroalcoholic extract and its fractions as well as its essential oil on MCF-7 cell line using MTT assay at concentrations ranging from 1.56 to 100 og/ml, to judge its feasibility to be used as an alternative hormone replacement therapy (HRT). Among tested fractions, the petroleum ether and volatile oil fractions showed superior activity in stimulating the proliferation of MCF-7 cells, indicating their estrogenic activity. GC/MS analysis of volatile oil revealed that anethole was the major component with 90.61 %, which can be linked to the observed activity. GC/MS analysis of the unsaponifiable matter of the petroleum ether fraction showed the presence of 15 compounds. Hexadecane was the major compound, followed by dodecane. On the other hand, analysis of the fatty acid methyl esters (FAME) showed that palmitic acid was the major saturated fatty acid, followed by octadecanoic acid, while linoleic acid was the major unsaturated fatty acid, followed by elaidic acid

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